It looks like the Israeli government is preparing to release approximately 1,000 terrorists in exchange for Gilad Shalit.

How many Israelis will die as a result of this deal? Anything over zero is likely to be right. A conservative estimate is about 100.

How many soldiers will be abducted? How many parents will find themselves in the shoes of the Shalit family? A conservative estimate is about 10.

If the implications of the deal are so clear, why is Israel’s government proceeding with the plan?

The murdered and abducted of the future have no present political significance, for it is only the current captives who are shaking government seats. Israel suffers from a complete loss of values and destiny, and the politicians have nothing more to do than ensure their personal political survival. Gilad Shalit is a threat to this survival. Future captives are not.

So what should we do? Abandon Gilad Shalit? Israel should eliminate Hamas’s political leaders one by one until Shalit is freed. We should make it clear that if any harm befalls him, their entire political elite will be eliminated – with no exceptions. If the head of Hamas is directing the negotiations for Shalit’s release, then he is the person responsible for the fact that Shalit is still in captivity. As Shalit’s captor, he deserves to die.

So why doesn’t Israel proceed to eliminate the Hamas leadership?

Most of us remember that Ariel Sharon released 436 terrorists in exchange for Israeli drug dealer Elchanan Tannenbaum. Sharon applied heavy pressure on his government ministers to approve the deal, even though many initially opposed it. Tannenbaum was not a soldier captured in the line of duty. He was a drug dealer who endangered his own life while pursuing illegal money.

Sharon bulldozed the deal through the cabinet, and Tannenbaum was later released from an Israeli prison before completing his full sentence. At that point, I already felt that the only explanation for Sharon’s strange behavior was that Tannenbaum had something on him. I could not explain to myself in any other way how the government could approve such an insane deal. According to reports from the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs Committee, 29 Israeli citizens have been murdered by terrorists released in exchange for this lowlife. The Tannenbaum deal also created motivation to abduct additional soldiers. Clearly, the motivation to kidnap Gilad Shalit was triggered in part by the inordinately high price paid in the Tannenbaum deal and in previous prisoner exchanges.

My next question is seemingly unrelated to the abduction of soldiers. Why did Sharon insist on making Ehud Olmert the No. 2 man in his government? Olmert was in 33rd place on the Likud list at the time – a most unlikely candidate for the No. 2 spot. Why did Sharon make him deputy prime minister, the position that eventually afforded him the premiership of the State of Israel?

A 60-page report, titled “The British Gas Government,” based almost entirely on public sources, ties Tannenbaum, Sharon and many other currently serving Israeli leaders to the British Gas Company and to its owner, billionaire Martin Schlaf. It seems that Schlaf buys politicians like houses in a Monopoly game and then uses them for his business needs. Yasir Arafat was one of Schlaf’s first “acquisitions.” Schlaf received a hefty portion of the Jericho casino profits in exchange for doing favors. (Arafat’s private jet was owned by Martin Schlaf.)

The document also identifies the source of the surprising wealth of some very prominent politicians in Israel who have never worked a day in their lives. It explains why Israel did not develop the natural gas field off the Haifa coast, preferring to sign a dubious contract with the British Gas company, which is drilling – you guessed it – off the coast of Gaza.

Yes, it seems that Tannenbaum has some very unpleasant information about a number of Israeli politicians who are snugly in the pocket of Martin Schlaf. Lucky for us, Schlaf is not interested in an Israeli military strike on Gaza that could endanger his business interests off the coast.

I often explain that Israel is in limbo because it has lost its Jewish vision. On the tactical plane, that essential loss of vision finds its expression in nearly incomprehensible levels of personal corruption.

If you have been asking yourself why Israel does not eliminate the terror leaders responsible for Shalit’s abduction (or other questions such as: Why are we stuck with this despicable character for a prime minister? Why can’t Israel beat the Kassams? And why doesn’t Israel’s leadership take effective action?) – Just remember the name Martin Schlaf.

About the Author:Moshe Feiglin is the Deputy Speaker of the Knesset and a member of Israel's Security and Defense Committee. He heads the Manhigut Yehudit ("Jewish Leadership") faction of Israel's governing Likud party.
He is the founder of Manhigut Yehudit and Zo Artzeinu and the author of two books: "Where There Are No Men" and "War of Dreams."
Feiglin served in the IDF as an officer in Combat Engineering and is a veteran of the Lebanon War.
He lives in Ginot Shomron with his family.

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